


Deepest, Darkest

by quartzguts



Series: bad things happen (mostly to noct) [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Gen, Hallucinations, Horror, Hurt Noctis Lucis Caelum, Hurt and Very Little Comfort, Injury, Mild Gore, Supernatural Fear Inducer, might not need the archive warning but rather safe than sorry yknow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-16 12:30:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21507979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quartzguts/pseuds/quartzguts
Summary: Noctis has an unpleasant encounter with a mindflayer while injured and alone.
Series: bad things happen (mostly to noct) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1550269
Comments: 8
Kudos: 112
Collections: Bad Things Happen Bingo





	Deepest, Darkest

**Author's Note:**

> my first work for my bad things happen bingo card, for the wonderful prompt "supernatural fear inducer"  
> i was thinking something along the lines of scarecrow-style fear toxin. i'm not sure if this is how mindflayers actually work, but... whatever. my city now.

Noct is sliding along the ledge, chatting idly with Prompto to keep him calm, when a misplaced step sends him scrambling to hold onto the jagged cave wall behind him.

He yelps as his footing slips further. Prompto shoots out a hand, and Noct tries to grab on, but his fingers slip through Prompto’s and suddenly he’s plummeting down into the darkness. He grunts and winces as the back of his jacket and shirt tear on the uneven wall, the rock scraping his skin into a tattered, bleeding mess. He does his best to stay upright, pressing himself against the wall, hoping he’ll catch onto a ledge or groove that will stop his descent. He keeps tumbling down, further and further, until his ankle strikes an unexpected slab of rock.

Noct yelps at the sudden pain shooting through his foot. What’s worse is that the impact sends him spinning, sliding down the wall at an angle. He's digging his fingers into the rock, trying to right himself, when he hits a jagged ledge hard and fast.

A scream rips out of his throat. The rock is sharp, cutting into the flesh of his side easily. Blood pours out of the wound, slicking the wall and making it harder for Noct to grab on. He opts for holding his side instead, trying to press the remains of his shirt onto the wound to stem the bleeding as he falls.

Finally, _finally_ , he hits the ground. The wall curves out into the floor, so the impact is kinder on his feet and legs than the way down had been. His ankle and back still hurt, but it’s background noise compared to the injury on his side. He presses his hand down harder, shakily rises to his feet, and stumbles forward. His breath comes out in short, panicked bursts. Something slithers away from him, its body sliding through the water pooling on the ground. Probably a snake, Noct thinks. He must’ve startled it. Poor thing.

It’s more than dark down here; it’s pitch black. The air is stale and cold, and the shadows surrounding him swallow up the light of his flashlight. It had been knocked around in the fall and now hangs loosely from its clip on his jacket. When he moves, it sways. He slowly eases himself into a squat, still trembling. The shallow water laps at his throbbing ankle. He needs to catch his breath, but sitting would be a mistake. He doesn’t know what’s down here with him.

He faintly hears voices calling to him. He recognizes Ignis, Gladio, and Prompto, but can’t make out their words. He must be too far down. He shouts back, just to let them know he’s okay even if they can’t understand him.

Luckily, they have a protocol for this. It’s too dangerous for the guys to follow him down, so it’s up to Noct to try and find a way back up. Meanwhile, they’ll stay put. If he isn’t back within thirty minutes, they’ll come looking.

Before he can start checking for safe areas to climb, he needs to heal himself up. His ankle is throbbing, but it’s just impact pain as far as he can tell. The real trouble is his side. It’s still bleeding, despite his best efforts, and he needs a potion, now.

Reaching into the Armiger is oddly difficult. It resists his pull, struggling against him as he tries to pull out a bottle of potion. It usually only does that when his mind is clouded - meaning, when he’s incredibly sleepy or dunk. He guesses it must be the pain and shock clouding his mind.

When he has the potion in hand, Noct squeezes on the glass until it shatters over his wound. The skin and muscle stitch back together slowly, eventually stopping when the injury is almost healed. A jagged cut remains. Blood oozes through the potion-born clots. Noct huffs and tries to pull out another potion.

There’s nothing.

He stares down at his hand, eyes widening, gooseflesh starting to rise on his arms. He reaches for the curative again but the Armiger only hisses, rearing back from his fingers. He tries chasing the magic only to be met with more resistance. He pulls and pulls, until finally the blue sparks around his fingertips fizz out completely and he's left with nothing but a profound sense of loneliness.

“Okay,” Noct mutters. “Okay, fine, whatever. I didn’t need it anyway.”

He rips at the tatters of his jacket, coming up with a strip long enough to wrap around his side. He ties it as tightly as he can. The bleeding is stopped for now. Hopefully he hadn’t lost too much on the way down; he feels out of it. Like he’s watching his body move at a distance.

Noct drags himself to his feet. His ankle is fully healed, but his knees still shake. The sudden fright from the fall has mellowed into a constant, simmering sense of disquiet. Noct decides to take it slow as he makes his way through the depths of the cave system to avoid any further falls.

His boots splash loudly against the water. It’s cold, and Noct shivers. It feels like there’s frost growing up from the ground, sinking through his boots and socks and worming its way under his skin. He shuffles forward, trying to minimize the noise he makes by sliding his feet through the water instead of stepping into it.

He hears something slither again. It slides away before he can aim his flashlight at it and see what it is. Nervously, he rights the light, so it’s pointing straight and not swinging back and forth. There’s something wrong about this cave, something cold and oppressive. He can’t place his finger on it, but he wants to get out as soon as possible.

He must be in the lower part of the cavern they were walking through only moments before, but the walls are so high and steep Noct has no hope of climbing them. Instead he shuffles along, searching for a tunnel. He finds one, and to his eternal gratitude it curves upwards. He steps in, glad to leave the water behind in exchange for dry rock to walk on.

It feels like he’s making a mistake the moment he steps in. The tunnel curves around him, threatening to cave in and bury him down here forever. His breath stutters, and he curls his arms around himself in fear. He turns to try and head back, but that’s even worse; there’s something _evil_ in that cavern, something dark and dangerous. He has to move forward, even if moving forward means taking his chances in the tunnel. It’s this or nothing.

He presses on.

The tunnel’s roof starts to descend a few feet in, and keeps getting lower. Noct first ducks down, then moves to his hands and knees, crawling forwards. The floor descends a bit and the water comes back in, little streams of it trickling through cracks in the floor and walls. He keeps his mouth firmly closed as he half crawls, half swims through it. Eventually, the tunnel roof is so low Noct has to lie down on his belly and shuffle forwards, his mouth completely underwater and his nose only barely staying above the surface. He has to keep moving forward, no matter what. Only death is behind him now.

Just as the roof caves so sharply Noct is forced completely under, it opens into a cavern. Noct gasps as he comes back up. He slides out of the tunnel, shaking and freezing. The cut on his side aches from the abuse, but is miraculously still closed. His water-proof flashlight is blessedly still working.

The cavern is long, but it’s also narrow. Noct can touch both sides of it with his hands outstretched if he stays in the middle. He walks along, gooseflesh still raised, shivering with cold and something else. He remembers the breathing exercises his therapist taught him years ago and tries to use them, pausing every once in a while to gasp or cough.

He only manages to get a few feet in before he’s stopped in his tracks. There’s someone in the cavern with him.

Noct’s fingers tremble as he tries to summon a weapon. Nothing comes. The Armiger is stubbornly silent, refusing to yield to his pleas for help. He hears begging, a voice whispering “no, please, no,” over and over again like a broken record. Belatedly he realizes it’s _his_ voice. He shakes his head, continuing his murmuring as the figure up ahead sways.

Slowly, it turns around. Noct recognizes the glowing red eyes before anything else. He only has a moment to hazily think _what’s a MT doing down here?_ before the damn thing is charging him with an axe.

Noct leaps to the side in what’s supposed to be a slick dodge, but he looses his footing and ends up careening into the wall. His head smacks painfully against the rock and he gasps as his vision flashes white. He feels like he’s dreaming, his body slow and heavy for reasons he can’t figure out. Maybe his wound is infected and it’s giving him a fever. Maybe he’s been down here for days and is going delirious from hunger.

Maybe he was knocked unconscious by the blow and he’s actually asleep, passed out in that dark, dark cavern.

The thought makes bile rise in his throat. He watches passively as the MT approaches him again, its metal tendons and muscles screeching in the stillness of the cave. It raises its axe, ready to swing down and end him. Noct wants it to. He needs it to.

His phone rings.

The sound shocks him out of his passive state. He scrambles to his feet, running further into the darkness and away from the MT. Its axe strikes the wall. The sound of metal hitting rock is so loud Noct’s ears ring. The damn thing keens, low and pained, and takes chase behind him. Its footsteps are uneven and shaky, the water churning and splashing with each one. It crashes to the ground only a few feet into its pursuit. Noct slows down and turns to watch it struggle to get back up. Its metal is slick and shiny with water, reflecting the light of his flashlight blindingly.

He blinks and the MT is gone.

“Wait, what?” Noct murmurs. He goes back, kicking at the water the MT was just laying in. There’s nothing there. He goes further in, feeling along the wall it struck when it was trying to hit him. There’s nothing; no scrapes, no metal bits stuck to the wall. There’s nothing in the cavern but him.

“Okay,” Noct says, eyes watering. “Okay. This is fine. Everything’s fine.”

“Everything is not fine, Your Highness,” his phone buzzes. Noct presses it hard against his ear, vaguely thinking it’s weird that the call is connected because he hadn’t actually answered it. “Have you even found any of the Royal Arms, yet?”

“Cor,” Noct gasps. “Cor, listen, please help - I’m lost, and, and, I don’t know how to get back - there’s something here, please, Cor, _help me_.”

“Pathetic,” Gladio’s voice snorts. The word grows distorted at the end, fuzzy with static. “Seriously, Noct? You’re begging? How useless are you?”

“Gladio,” Noct whines. “Please.”

“Call back when you’re less of a disappointment.” And just like that, the voices are gone. Noct looks down at his phone. It’s black, the screen cracked, the entire thing soaked. Water must’ve gotten to it when he was dragging himself through the tunnel earlier. It doesn’t do anything when Noct presses the on button.

He swallows his panic and walks on.

The cavern is long, but eventually it comes to an end. It narrows out into another tunnel, this one curving right and edging upwards. Noct climbs into it, dropping into a crouch so he can continue forward. He can hear the slithering again, this time directly behind him. He turns around, shining his light back so he can see.

An MT’s impassive face stares back at him. He blinks and it’s gone.

Noct keeps moving forward.

The tunnel eventually comes to a split. There are two paths, the one on the left curving back around and one on the right continuing the path Noct’s currently on. He stares between them, trying to figure out which one to take. When he shines his light down the left path, he catches sight of water and a wide, massive cavern that’s somehow even darker than the ones he’s been in up til now. He decides on the path to the right.

It moves slightly upwards and quickly opens into another cavern. Water pools at the bottom of this one, too, seeping in through cracks Noct can’t see. He’s hit with a sudden and inexplicable case of deja vu. The cavern is long and narrow, and looks a lot like the one he was just in. He chokes as his throat starts to restrict itself, unable to breathe as his chest contracts with barely contained panic. _It’s okay_ , he tries to tell himself. _Lots of caves look very similar. It’s okay. This can’t be the same cavern I was in before. Everything’s okay_.

He takes a few shaky steps forward. There’s a stalagmite rising in the center of the cavern, about Noct’s height and familiarly shaped. The closer he gets, the more he can see; the black and red clothes, the blonde whiff of hair, the casual sway in its subtle movements.

It turns around suddenly, stomping towards Noct with purpose. Noct almost cries when he sees it’s Prompto, grinning happily and bouncing back and forth on his feet.

“Noct! We were so worried about you!” Prompto says. His mouth is full of teeth as he grins. He keeps grinning as he approaches Noct, his movements oddly jerky, his body quaking under its own weight. Noct wraps his arms around himself and stumbles back.

“Noct! Don’t go!” Prompto says. “Come on, man! You’ve disappointed me so many times! At least don’t let me down now!”

“What,” Noct stutters. “Prom, what -”

“You’re always sooo busy! So boring! I wish I’d never become friends with you!” Prompto stomps forward. The sound of his boots splashing in the water fills the cavern. Noct grits his teeth, folding his jaw together to tightly he’s sure it’ll crack. Prompto keeps moving forward, and Noct stumbles back when he gets close enough that Noct can clearly see his face.

It’s gone. No eyes, no nose. There’s nothing but that ugly, delighted grin.

Noct screams and scrambles back against the wall.

Prompto laughs in utter glee and throws himself forward. He’s slow and clunky, and Noct dodges him easily, falling to the side and out of the way. Prompto hits the wall hard, and Noct can hear bones cracking as he pulls back and smashes his face into it again and again. He watches, paralyzed, as Prompto headbutts the wall until his mouth is bleeding and his teeth are falling out.

“What the hell is going on?!” Noct screams.

Prompto turns to him, grins toothlessly, and disintegrates into ash.

Noct clambers to his feet and _runs_.

The only sounds in the cavern are his own footsteps and his breaths coming hard and fast. The only thing he can feel is pure, utter _panic_ and pain from the gash in his side that definitely reopened in his mad scramble to get away from the thing-that-definitely-isn’t-Prompto. The water becomes muddy, sticky and weighed down, and Noct nearly vomits at the thought that he’s running through his not-best friend’s ashes.

He runs back into the tunnel and nearly trips on his way down the other path. He can’t go back, he can’t turn around, he has to keep moving forward and get the hell out or he’s going to die down here and no one will ever find his body. Tears are streaming down his face, he’s hiccuping in between breaths and his entire body feels like it’s being electrocuted again and again, each nerve on complete sensory overload. His stomach twists and turns, groaning and churning like it’s trying to claw its way out of his abdomen.

The water rises, and soon Noct is waist deep. He treads on, half walking, half swimming through the dark. It’s colder here, freezing like the endless tundra that covers Niflheim. Noct wonders if that’s where he really is, if he’d fallen through the earth and been spit back up in an icy cave just outside Gralea. He wonders if Ardyn is going to show up any minute now and offer him a ride.

The water keeps rising. It hits his chest before long, and he can barely touch the bottom anymore. Noct can’t tell if the floor is getting lower or if there’s more water pouring in somewhere. He can’t hear any, but then again it’s hard to hear over the cacophony of sounds his own body is making: the rush of his blood, the pounding of his heart, the gasping of his breaths. He wonders, near hysterically, if the water is going to rise until it fills the entire cavern and he drowns. A fitting fate for the deposed King of Lucis - drowned to death in the darkness, alone and afraid.

He claws at his flashlight, yanking it off of his jacket so he can hold it above the surface. It’s waterproof, yes, but he doesn’t want to take any chances.

There's another stalagmite poking out of the water. Noct shivers, walking towards it with trepidation. He really doesn't want to see what it is, but something is drawing him forward, pulling him in against his will. He whimpers. The sound is completely swallowed by the cave.

The stalagmite has sandy blonde hair. Noct cries out before he can remind himself that this _isn't Ignis_ , it can't be.

Not-Ignis wades closer. His face is all there, but it's blank, devoid of any of the warmth Noct has grown used to over the years. He regards Noct with dead green eyes, the shadows cast by the flashlight making his cheeks look harsh and sallow.

Noct sloshes closer. Ignis rises out of the water, slowly inching up and up, until his chest emerges and Noct can see a thick tentacle curling around it. It's purple and red and ugly looking, wrapping around Ignis's body so tight it must be crushing him. Noct chokes on a sob as he wades towards him, stretching out a hand to grasp at his shirt.

Ignis bobs over. The lower half of his body is completely gone, intestines and blood spilling out as the tentacle keeps crushing his chest, breaking ribs and rending muscle, squeezing him like a ketchup bottle.

Noct screams. He can feel his sword emerging from the Armiger, the magic thrashing violently until it rips at his very soul. He charges.

\---

He wakes up slowly. The dread in his chest is still there, just marginally tempered by the pain radiating from his side. Noct groans, dragging a hand over his eyes. The wound on his side is completely open again, spilling blood out into the water pooling around his outstretched legs.

Noct stumbles to his feet. His head is pounding. It's pure agony, pulsing in tandem with his heart beat. Noct moves his hands to rub at his temples, hoping that'll alleviate the pressure somewhat. It dies down after a few minutes, and he's left feeling tired and empty.

His flashlight is completely busted, leaving him in total darkness. He pulls out his phone, but it's just as dead as it was before. He leans against the wall behind him, too exhausted to do anything else.

He must have blacked out. That's probably why he's so disoriented. Noct lets his head fall back and closes his eyes.

He opens them again to a faint cry of "Noct!" and the sound of feet sloshing through the water. He whimpers as memories of the MT and not-Prompto come back. Jerky, unnatural footsteps that create whirlpools in their wake. These steps are even, more realistic, but Noct still doesn't trust them.

A light suddenly appears in the darkness, nearly blinding him. Noct presses back against the wall. He tries to resummon his sword. It appears but slips through his fingers and dissipates when it hits the water below.

"Guys! I've found him!" It's Prompto's voice. Noct shivers, curling his hands into fists. This time, he's ready to defend himself.

He falters when Prompto comes closer. His face is just how it should be, with eyes and a nose and a grin that's not so wide it's splitting his face. He wades closer, reaching out a hand for Noct.

Noct edges backwards, nearly tripping over a rock. Prompto's smile fades into a concerned frown.

"Noct? You okay, buddy?" he asks, trying to move closer again. Noct stumbles back further.

More figures come into view, each sporting their own lights. Gladio towers over Prompto, the shadows on his face making him look angry. Ignis is next, carefully observing from behind the other two. Noct can't see his face well enough to tell if he's alive or not, but at least his legs are where they're supposed to be.

"He looks out of it," Gladio says.

"He could be suffering from a concussion," Ignis says. "Noct, are you alright?"

Noct whimpers again, feeling utterly pathetic. All his worst fears are being realized; they're going to know how pathetic and useless he is, and they're going to leave him down here to rot for it. He starts begging again, little murmurs of "no," and "please," and "help me."

Prompto looks completely lost. Gladio rests a hand on his shoulder and gently tugs him back, making room for Ignis to step forward.

"It's okay, Noct," he soothes. "You're fine. Try and breathe with me, alright? Just breathe."

Noct distantly realizes he's hyperventilating. He struggles to force his breaths to even out, matching them with Ignis's. That elicits a slew of praise from the three of them. Noct's head starts to clear.

"Potion first," Ignis says. One appears in his hand and he passes it to Noct, who shatters it against his side. It seeps into his skin easily, healing up the wound.

"Now, can we ask you some questions, Noct?" Ignis asks. He's standing close, but he sounds so far away. Noct shivers. He's thoroughly soaked. It makes the air feel that much colder.

He realizes Ignis is waiting for an answer. He nods.

"We found blood in the adjacent caves and tunnels. The trail seemed to indicate you were running from something. Were you?"

Noct doesn't know the answer. Was he? Was any of it real, the MT, not-Prompto? The phone call? Ignis's body? He doesn't answer.

"Alright," Ignis says patiently. "Then, was your injury caused by the fall, or by a daemon?"

"The fall," Noct says.

"Okay. Do you have any other injuries?"

Noct shuts his eyes. "Head hurts."

"Concussion," Ignis murmurs.

"No," Noct says. "Didn't hit my head."

"You sure?" Gladio asks.

"Yeah." Noct reaches out. He feels like he's floating far away. He needs something to ground him. He needs to know this is real.

Ignis's hand wraps around his own. It's warm and solid. Noct shakily brings it closer, rubbing his cheek against their hands. He's so cold.

"We need to get him outta here," Prompto says. "We can ask him stuff later."

"Agreed," Ignis says. "Noct, can you walk?"

Noct nods, but he isn't actually sure. He pushes himself off the wall and manages to stand on his own, but he doesn't think he can take a step. He pulls on Ignis's hand hard, trying to hold himself up.

"I'll take him," Gladio says. He comes forward to take Noct's arm. Noct lets him, but he refuses to let go of Ignis's hand. Prompto shuffles to the side as they amble past, his hands reaching towards Noct but hesitantly refusing to touch. Noct smiles shakily at him, and Prompto beams.

Noct has to look away.

As they make their way slowly through the cavern, Noct realizes this is the same place he'd fallen into before. They walk away from the tunnel Noct had taken and towards another one on the other side of the cavern. It curves up gently, and they keep walking until they come out on even ground near the ledge Noct had fallen from.

A laugh tears out of his throat. He falls to his knees. The others are around him instantly, asking if he's okay.

"Let's get the hell out of here," Noct says.

Gladio sighs, clapping a hand down on Noct's shoulder. "Agreed."

"I'm afraid the only way out is over the ledge," Ignis says. "Can you make it, Noct?"

He nods. He has to.

They scoot across the ledge slowly. Gladio keeps an arm over Noct to steady him. When they reach the other side, Prompto loudly proclaims his relief.

Noct looks back down into the darkness below. Two glowing green eyes stare back at him.

He screams.


End file.
